Streaming Star Dedicates 37 Straight Trying to Conquer <em>The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom</em> Using a Single Branch

You might assume that after two years since Tears of the Kingdom arrived, fans would have run out of creative challenge runs that apply unique restrictions on a playthrough. Yet, although numerous gamers have attempted to finish the game with only a stick, streamer PointCrow stands out as the individual who endeavored to beat the adventure with a one stick—specifically, the exact same stick throughout.

PointCrow is famous for such challenge runs, like the instance he played the game using only bombs or the attempt where he tried to defeat the game with zero energy. A one-branch run, though, sounds impossible at face value. There's the game's introduction, which requires the hero to wield the legendary blade. Then, there's the whole durability mechanic, which is particularly important when dealing with the weakest tool in the whole world. Yet if the stick shatters, that's the end. Game over.

So, How?

So, how? The straightforward explanation is exploits. The complete answer, I kid you not, is parallel universes. Apparently, you can tweak Tears of the Kingdom's save file system to have distinct game sessions that affect one another. So the creator does a “setup” save where he advances normally, and the actual save, where he's limited. The preparatory save has him completing the prologue and initial tutorial island, and this character acquires full endurance and hearts. From here, he starts a cinematic and halts midway through to instruct the software to open an auto-save from the branch-only file. The game gets mixed up and generates a third game file that merges the states of the original two.

This creates new issues, though. The merged file has a Link that never obtain the capability to enter shrines. Fortunately, this is something that the save glitch fixes easily, but pulling it off means relying on an unstable build of the title that refuses to open certain areas. As with other obstacles, he has a technical solution for it: He starts the game on its pre-release version 1.0, and then updates the software partway through to make sure it starts functioning correctly.

Overcoming Durability and Additional Challenges

Curiously, the introductory form of the hero is coded so that he is unable to damage any tools he uses, presumably to prevent a scenario where the player gets stuck at the start of the adventure. But that's also how the streamer bypasses the wear problem, as the character he pulls across universes is the one from the start of the story. It's a clever trick, but not a method that eradicates all potential friction. The stick is nonetheless a ineffective item that renders encounters tedious. But at that stage, it's entirely a question of grit and dedication. It also helps that there's a duplication glitch that gives him an plentiful number of items to boost his strength, or stock up on revival fairies. He also employs a bug that enables him to clip through the world. Some would find these methods grounds to question the validity of the attempt, but in my mind, he's a resourceful player who is willing to do whatever it takes to entertain his viewer. He also implements a penalty of sorts stipulating that, for each spirit he employs, he'll remove one fan from his live stream, creating an incentive to avoid depend too much on them.

Major Battles and the Last Encounter

The streamer succeeds to defeat several of the game's bosses, but the fights appear grueling. The video edit of his journey spares the audience endure the entire conflicts, which is a good thing when some of them take multiple hours. One boss fight, a powerful foe, takes an incredible twenty-three hours. The final villain showdown, which erases the hero's hearts as it unfolds, is a memorable nail-biter. The unbreakable branch is after all only a piece of wood. He can't always duplicate objects during the fight.

So, is it possible? Technically, PointCrow manages to defeat the beast form of the antagonist. But the game compels the player to wield the Master Sword as the last attack, so strictly speaking, it's not quite fully a branch-exclusive playthrough. But what fun is that?

In the end, the streamer removed more than 1,000 users in his live stream. Rest in peace.